Hi there. I’m hoping someone could spare some advice for a new player.
I’ve been really into exploration, mostly in WHs. So far it’s been going well, and I’ve been following all the advice I’ve read about in other forums, such as:
Constant dscan and overview. Combat probes or PVP ship = gtfo
Checking each system I explore in on zkillboard
(If in null or low sec) Try to stay in empty systems; otherwise check the zkillboard of every person in local
Using safe spots
Drop off loot often
etc.
Following these tips has mitigated most of the risk from most of the dangerous situations. However, there is one situation in which I feel kind of helpless: getting ambushed in a WH at a site that a hunter has already scanned down beforehand.
I’m aware that there is a delay between decloak and locking/scram, so I assumed that the moment I see someone in overview while at a site I’ll likely escape if I immediately warp. But I just learned the hard way that stealth bombers don’t have this delay.
So my question is, is there any way to prevent this? Although I consider situations like these an occasional inevitability (I consider it more of a business expense), I’d like to know if I can mitigate this risk. Or is it even a common enough occurrence for me to worry about (only happened once so far)?
The idea I had in mind was to use ECM drones, though I’ve never used them so I don’t know how they work, or how effective they would be. My idea is that as soon as I see someone in my overview I’d just drop the drones and try to warp off.
The ship I use is a Heron, fitted for scanning/hacking, with an Inertial Stabilizer and Nanofiber in my low slots. I figured warp stabs wouldn’t be helpful in this situation as such hunters would almost certainly be fitted to counter that.
I don’t mess around in WH’s, but I can answer some other questions.
Warp stabs can be useful. Some guys will fit more than one scram or warp disrupter, but not always. I mean, I’ve certainly had stabbed guys get away from me. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you if multiple scrams/points are common in the WH meta or not. Oh, do be aware that they have a targeting time penalty.
You can try using ECM drones, but the Heron is really squishy (especially if you have no tank and/or nanofibers fitted), so you are going to go down really fast. Idk. Try orbiting cans to help mitigate damage (you probably don’t want to get caught sitting still), and always align first, then start spamming warp.
The Heron is really cheap, so I wouldn’t sweat losses too much. Obviously, you should do what you can to minimize losses, as you lose the ship, your time, and possibly some loot; but, the increased value of WH loot should more than make up for the trips that don’t pan out.
Anyway, it sounds like you know what you’re doing. But maybe some wormholers have something more to add.
Bounce around in the system- warp to multiple spots (celestials like asteroid belts) to get within 14au of your destination, and do a 60deg d-scan to see if anyone’s camping. Everytime you go past a gate, it’s a gamble, but when you pass the gate and see someone and a bubble, overheat your prop and crash back to the previous system you’re in.
By this, do you mean that when I want to escape I should align to my destination before I press warp? I thought that pressing warp automatically aligns you first.
This is excellent advice for avoiding gate camps through low and null. Unfortunately, my issue is more with cloaked campers at data/relic sites in WHs, meaning they don’t show up on dscan.
Okay, hitting warp will align your ship first, but if you get scrammed/pointed during that time, it will bring your ship to a stop. If you align first, the scram will cancel your warp, but not cancel your align. This means that if you do get a jam cycle off with your ECM drones, you’ll be able to immediately warp, and not have to align first. The video demonstrates what I’m talking about (only about 5 mins)
So far I’ve only died twice, so nowhere near enough of a sample size.
The first time was not a camp, and was 100% avoidable. As I was finishing scanning a data site I saw a Heron + scanner probes pop up in dscan. Because there were over 10 cosmic signatures in this WH, I basically took a bet that as long as the Heron did not scan down my site within his first 3 scans I would have time to loot 1 can before I bumped into him. I also took a bet that because Herons can’t really fight most exploration ships (and certainly not hunters), that this Heron would not be fitted for combat. I lost both bets, but I believe the odds were in my favor so I’d make the same bet again, however I wasn’t being careful enough with dscan/overview, so that is where I learned a lesson.
The second time was a camp. There were 2 hunters; one was a stealth bomber so it would have been impossible for me to warp out before it scrammed me (I remember getting scrammed as soon as I saw it in overview at 1,900 meters).
My warp time is currently about 3.2 seconds. I’ve heard a guideline somewhere that you should aim to get that under 2s. Is this possible for a Heron?
Yes. 3x low friction nozzle joints, low 2x inertial Stabilizers II (but They increase sig radius) can be swapped for nanofibre internal structure II should make you warp in 2.8s
Probe(Minmatar ship) warps within 2.7s if fitted like this.
I have an alt who is a WH roamer in an Astero. When I log her in, she first scans down all signatures in the WH, after that she sets up safe spots in 150 km + distance to each data and relic site. Only after she stayed a while in the WH she starts hacking the sites. You must assume that this has happened all the time when you enter a WH.
So when she sees some unlucky unexperienced novice explorer or his/her scanning probes she is immediately in hunter mode. Means, she stops hacking and waits/checks the sites she already knows,
If the unlucky guy starts hacking, she is 150km + outside the site and cloaked, waiting for him to start hacking a database or such, the difficult cans, which require your attention.
Then she warps in cloaked, de.cloaking during the warp in to that can, landing directly on your can or better on you. De-cloaking delay (the time she can lock you after the de-cloak) is some few seconds, if you are not aware or your attention is on hacking the can, you will be scrammed.
She has equipped a +3 strength scrammer, so even when you have 2 warp stabs equipped you will be caught.
What to do to mitigate such a threat?
Always have an eye on dscan and the overview, even when hacking - keep your attention up on the surrounding.
My advice is, fly a Probe or Magnate, which both have 3 low slots and equip 3 warp stabs. Then you will get out, might be damaged, but alive.
Edit: Stealth Bombers are not a real issue to you, if you can avoid the scram, they have normally Torpedos equipped, large missiles to fight battleships, which apply poor damage to small frigates. So if you can warp off you are fine.
This is great advice. I had no idea that C2 had 2 statics. The only concern I have with using a wh from low/null is that I have to cross through potential gate camps. But I’ve been favoring wh’s that are far from main trade hubs.
And now that you mention it, both of my deaths happened on the weekend. Additionally, I found that almost all wh’s I scanned on the weekend were picked clean, no matter how deep down the chain I went.
Thanks for the advice! I’ll try not to get blown up in your camp lol.
Good post. I do much the same except that I have a scripted Sensor Booster to speed up the locking process - if you time your decloak right your decloaking delay ends just as you land and you can lock and scram someone in well under 2 seconds. The +3 faction Scram is useful for catching Ventures on belts, too.
However, it’s worth bearing in mind that the hacker/miner you’re targeting may be bait, and there’s a cloaked ‘big boy’ sitting in the middle of the site, just waiting for you to swoop in - guess how I discovered this…
If you want to come into our WH and steal from us…
Lucky for me, dt is while I have my morning coffee. I launch a 3rd acct/scout toon that scans the sys and stays cloaked afk all day. (unless it disco’s) When I get home, I chk what’s missing, whats around and it gets ready to scout the new sigs out.
